Closed The Moon and the Sun PV

RPing as Henrietta Montagne
@Winnie Harper (Felix Kolbeck)

She didn’t feel bad.

As she followed far behind Felix’s silhouette, evaporating into the night mist, her mind wandered through the foggy events of their first ball together. Starting with him sitting in lightless solitude, watching couples twirl and collapse into fits of ignorant giggles. It was a mere picture until its emotion exuded from the filmy page, where she felt his withdrawal sinking into her, his muddle and betrayal. Second, to the brief interactions of her moon and Rett, however flirtatious the latter may have been, a hard bite on the inside of her cheek focusing the girl’s eyes again. Those weren't blanks she wanted to fill. Her fingers brushed delicately against her chest, searching for the sunflower necklace Felix had given her, only to find bareness. Skin. Nothing. No symbol of their time, of whatever it was happening between them. Just her. She decided the emptiness that ensued, like the umbra was caving in on her, wasn’t a feeling she enjoyed.

She couldn’t feel bad.

It was a silly prank. A good laugh between friends, if that was what they were. Friends that caught each other’s gaze from afar, that interlocked their trembling hands now and then, friends that, on Ret’s end, weren’t fond of seeing one another awfully friendly with others. It’d been funny, the starry coincidence of Ret and Rett, their thick accents and backstories. Again her hand rushed, nails scraping at her own flesh, craving a chain that wasn’t there. Perhaps one that wouldn’t return should she not make up for tonight. Although, he was a king of drama, silently drowning in his own dismay as he stomped along the path. His figure blended with that of the trees, stretching well beyond her height and position.

His fault. She didn’t feel bad.

When he’d stopped to turn to her, the girl’s mouth fell agape slightly, an exhale of relief breaking the cool air. But he’d said nothing, merely dropped his leather jacket over her shoulders from which it dangled now, baggy over her frame. Ret pulled it tighter around herself now, squinting into the murky November dusk to continue the quiet pursuit. Letting him slip away so easily wasn’t on her to-do list, but still the girl pushed him harder into the blackness, her fury at Rett manifesting toward Felix. “You’re being a baby,” She let go into the multitude of space between them, voice raised and the embers of her temper glistening when the oxygen doused them.

His fault.

The lake's edge came at last, an ache shooting down her calves. Due to their height difference, Felix’s stride took a measure of effort to keep up with. Moonlight skipped over the lazily rippling water, muted lapping providing a gentle hum behind their conversation, which he’d finally initiated. The blonde’s eyebrows were lowered in criticism of his pouting, of the way he’d stormed into the night away from her rather than finishing their talk. He’d see the way the stars flickered against her blaze, crimson to navy. “You must not have cared that much about being together given you’ve wasted a dozen minutes of our time making me chase you down,” She spat at him, quick to quell his efforts to show his so scarcely seen affection. It was a few minutes before the sentimentality had breached her, and Ret blinked hard. What was this feeling?

His stupid fault.

The white-haired boy extended his palm to her, in it the golden necklace she’d been grasping hopelessly for each time his back was turned. Something within her extinguished, and she took it from him without a moment’s hesitation, quickly fumbling to clasp it around her neck. Breath. Her lungs, they were fine. The dark took a step back from her, and her knees were weakening with passing seconds. The water’s scent was pathetic beside the smoky aroma from the leather on her shoulders, a dash of citrus wrapping it in a neat bow. Alone. He’d been alone. Confused. Without her. Watching the supposed male incarnation of his southern belle tangle himself around another guy.

She felt bad.

“It was a stupid joke, and I will make him pay for doing this to you.” Felix knew her well enough to know there was no bluff. Ret and Rett, both being students of Ilvermorny, would have paths that overlapped again, and when they did, the latter would come to regret turning their innocent prank into a test of strength betwixt her and Felix. “I shouldn’t have… you shouldn’t have…” She was throwing handfuls of dirt at a ten-foot grave, and bound to be doing it for hours, trying to suffocate her guilt. Boil it into anger, an emotion much more familiar and oft embraced. “I’m sorry,” She murmured, taking one step toward closing their distance.

𝙾𝚄𝚃𝙵𝙸𝚃: Reducio

▪ 𝙴𝙽𝙲𝚈 ▪ ▪ FELIX ▪ KOLBECK ▪ ▪ DURMSTRANG iNPC ▪ THIRD YEAR ▪

𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂: Reducio @Levi Drakos as Henrietta Montagne

Baby. She had called him baby, and not in the affectionate way that turned the word into a pet name. It was rare for anyone but his mother to call him out on his awful attitude. That was one thing he liked about Ret; she wasn't afraid to put him in his place. He was about to snap back at her, tell her that he wasn't behaving like a baby, that she had hurt his feelings and therefore needed to pay the price, but a realization struck him; she was right.

For Merlin's sake. This is why he should have never developed feelings for someone. His affection for the Southern Belle did something to him. It was almost like... He wanted to be empathic towards her feelings and... Better himself? It made him admit to being wrong. He had only ever cared about his mother and sisters before he met Ret, and that was out of obligation (or at least he told himself as much). He had been wrong all this time; he was capable of feelings and letting them blind his judgement. It was a lot for the 13-year-old King of Angst to process.

He tried to relax his shoulders, allowing the rain to dampen his dress shirt, which clang to his lanky form and hung there limply. He was not finely chiselled perfection. He was 13 going on 70 in terms of grumpiness. He obviously had a lack of communication skills (but most people were just annoying so really it was their own fault). Despite all of this, Ret still liked him, and Felix couldn't fathom why. He needed to stay calm and speak to her rationa-- WAIT A MINUTE, he made her track him down?! "WHAT? I went looking for you and couldn't find-- That's beside the point."

He stared at her as she fumbled to put the necklace back on as if the piece of jewelry were a lifeline between them. Perhaps in a way it was. It represented their relationship and how Felix felt about her. It also reminded him of the speech he had practiced in front of his mirror at least three times. Though he would take that admission to the grave with him because it would destroy his rep. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're here now." His mouth felt dry, and he swallowed, his stomach churning nervously.

Stepping forward, the Swede's hand reached up to gently touch the necklace that was draped across her delicate neck. It suited her so much that she almost did not look like herself without it. "We met here for the first time. You had sunflowers on your bathing suit." Felix started, "I know because that's all I could see after you fell on me." The corner of his lips twitched upwards. "But I don't think sunflowers represent you... Um... I think they are always around you because... You're..." Oh my god, he sounded so fucking lame. Why was this so difficult? "Sunflowers always turn towards the sun, a-and you are like the sun; warm and bright, which is why..." A wordsmith he was not. He wouldn't blame her if she laughed in his face. He had to try and just get to the point.

"I... Will you be uh... Girlfriend?" The colour red flooded his cheeks, the flush burning up to his ears and colouring his pale complexion. Man... Why did it have to be so hard? His shoulders slumped. "... Dammit, you know I'm bad at expressing how I feel, so I'm just going to fucking show you and you can tell me yes or no afterwards." His right hand cupped her cheek, her sunkissed skin seemed to glow in the dim evening light, as if she were a child of Helios himself. As his thumb brushed over her cheekbone his pink and ring finger slid beneath her chin to tilt it upwards.

He had to lean down quite a bit considering he had seven inches on her. He was terribly aware of how hard his heart was pounding against his chest, and he ignored the mocking echo in his head calling him a 'four'. No, everyone else could disappear, because this moment belonged to him and Ret, and the world would stop as their lips brushed and slotted against each other. Slipping an arm around the American's waist, the Swede would pull her closer if she didn't avoid his kiss.